


This Isn't a Dream

by zombiecupcake



Category: 12 Monkeys (TV)
Genre: Couch Cuddles, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 21:57:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3463517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiecupcake/pseuds/zombiecupcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few weeks after Cole's death during Operation Troy, Cassie gets the shock of her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Isn't a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a little Oneshot I thought of while at work last night. I'm not quite sure I'm happy with it, but let me know what you guys think. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own 12 Monkeys.

Cassie was deep in thought, her thumb nail pressed against her teeth, not so much biting it, as letting it rest there. It was one of those days when Cassie had nothing to do. She wasn’t needed at CDC, and with no virus to be destroyed, Cassie had no need to spend every free waking moment attempting to track down some apocalypse crazed cult. All Cassie had now was time to think and memories.

There was a bang at the front door, causing Cassie to finally jerk out of her thoughts and focus on her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was the fact that she was once again staring at her picture of Cole. It wasn’t necessarily the best of pictures, it was actually the North Korean surveillance picture Aaron had brought her. She had secretly managed to save it from the trash can when Aaron had been cleaning out the bookstore proceeding operation Troy. A few days after she had said her final goodbyes to Cole she had taken it out and had it copied, then both copies framed. On picture rested on her coffee table in a place of honour, the other sitting on her bedside table.

A second loud series of knocks drove Cassie into action. She pulled her thumb from her mouth, and stood up, self-consciously brushing any imaginary dirty from her old yoga pants. She hadn’t been planning on seeing anyone that day, and therefore hadn’t dressed for receiving company. However her nervous actions ceased as soon as she turned towards the glass front of the building. 

This was impossible, there was no way.

“This is a dream, or a hallucination,” Cassie vacantly mumbled to no one in particular. 

“Cassie?” she heard the muffled words as he looked at her through the glass in the door, waving at her to get her attention. Still Cassie could not force herself to move. She stood shocked as she watched Cole’s face change from confusion to worry, testing the knob.

“Cass?” he asked again, as he placed his hands on her shoulders, shaking her a little, his voice tinged with a hint of panic.

“You’re dead,” she said softly, staring more through him than at him.

Cole gave a light, slightly awkward chuckle before using one of his hands to run through his hair. “I’m supposed to be aren’t I?” he said it as if he were conversing with a child. “Cassie, I promise you, I really am here. I splintered just as the bomb was dropped. I didn’t have time to warn you.” He said lifting the hand which wasn’t still resting on her shoulder to her cheek, forcing her to look him directly in the eyes.

“Cole?” she asked finally, her voice sounding so small with the hint of a hiccup at the end. 

“Yeah Cassie. It’s me.” He told her with a heartbroken smile. He hadn’t realized what his dying would have done to her. He couldn’t think of a time when Cassie had ever sounded so small, not even when he first kidnapped her at knife point. He wished he could apologize for making her wait so long to find out he was alive, but the words just wouldn’t come, nor did Cassie give him the chance.

As soon as he had confirmed that he was indeed there, the dam broke. Suddenly Cassie was launching herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. The force of her body colliding with his caused Cole to take a few steps back, though this didn’t seem to faze Cassie as she just stepped with him. After a quick moment of shock Cole wrapped his arms around Cassie, attempting to offer some comfort. Once he had wrapped his arms around her waist, Cole noticed her body was wracked with sobs, his neck was wet from where her face was pressed snuggly against it. Cole was at a loss, situations like this never really came up in his time, everyone was already so numb to death. All he could do was hold her a little closer and rock them back and forth lightly, much like they had done when she taught him how to dance.

Eventually Cole realized that Cassie was no longer sobbing, but mumbling something against his skin, though he had no idea what the words were. All he knew was that she was saying something. 

Finally as Cassie began to truly calm down Cole was able to decipher what some of her quiet mutterings. She still had her arms wrapped tightly around him, but her sobs had finally subsided and she had pulled her face back far enough away from his neck to un-muffle her words.

“I’m sorry. So, so sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry,” over and over again she uttered the words like some sort of prayer.

“Hey, hey. None of that, there’s no reason to be sorry,” Cole assured Cassie as he pulled her back slightly in an attempt to catch her eye. “You only did what I asked you to. There’s nothing to be sorry for. I’m proud of you Cassie, I know it took a lot of courage for you to let me go, I’m and thankful,” her told her.

“You shouldn’t. I basically killed you.” she told him as she pulled herself back into his body, and Cole let her. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you. I’m sorry I didn’t let you touch the painting, that we didn’t dance longer, that you never got to see the Keys. I’m sorry we didn’t have more cheeseburgers,” she finished, obvious tears in her voice.

“Cassie, please. It’s alright, really. Besides, it doesn’t matter, I’m still here aren’t I?” Cole asked, trying to make his voice light. As much as he wanted to make things better, and calm Cassie down, he didn’t know how to deal with the current situation. 

“We could go get a cheeseburger now?” Cole offered. He wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to say because suddenly Cassie went still. Cole was about to open his mouth and try and backpedaled, but then Cassie was pushing herself off of Cole and was flitting around the room like a hummingbird.

“Yeah, we can go get one right now. And, we can get you some shorts, and shirts, and we’ll drive down to the Keys.” Cassie said like a hurricane. 

“Woah Cassie, no. Why don’t we just get a cheeseburger? We don’t have time to go to Florida.” Cole said shaking his head and moving to follow Cassie who had passed into the kitchen. “Besides, it’s getting late.” Cole said only then noticing that the sun had already gone down. He knew the sun had been near setting when he had gotten there, but he hadn’t realized how long he and Cassie had spent just standing there.

“Late, right.” Cassie said as she dug around in her purse. Cole didn’t think she even knew that she was talking to him.

“Cassie.” Cole said, jarring her out of what she was doing. She looked up from her purse, now holding her car keys up.

“Did you hear me? It’s-“he paused a moment to check the clock on the stove, “-10:45, it’s getting let. Let’s just get the cheeseburger and call it a night ok? I’ll be here for a few days this time. Plenty of time to make plans,” he offered.

Thankfully, Cassie seemed to be a little more coherent, and looked at her car keys before nodding. “You’re right. Let’s grab something to eat,” she said before motioning towards the door.

Cole smiled, grateful to see Cassie a little more like herself and moved to open the door, letting her walk out in front of him. He followed closely behind her as the way around the building and out on the street where the car was parker. The fact that Cassie was looking back every few steps did not go unnoticed, and Cole made sure to give her a reassuring smile every time he caught her eye. He could only assume she was checking to make sure that he was still there.

Once in the car, Cole got himself settled and sat there quietly, looking out the side window as he always did. As the car started moving and they got out onto the main roads, Cole felt Cassie’s hand brush against his. His initial reactions was to jerk away from the contact, his body not used to surprise human contact. He immediately regretted it as he looked to see that Cassie now had both hands on the steering wheel, gripping it tight enough to turn her knuckled white.

Cole hesitated a moment before taking initiative this time. He reached his left hand out and placed it on her right shoulder. His actions had an instant effect as he felt Cassie’s shoulder’s relax as well as her hold on the steering wheel.

The rest of the car ride was uneventful. Cole kept a close eye on Cassie as she drove, watching Cole out of the corner of her eye every few minutes. They arrived at some random drivethru and Cassie ordered their food then paid and drove home. 

Once they got home they laid their food out about the kitchen and began eating. As soon as Cole had made his way through half his burger, Cassie spoke up.

“Cole? How are you here? Not that I’m not happy you’re alive, but I don’t understand,” Cassie had barely touched any of her food, which worried Cole. He could tell she was thinner, a little paler, with black under her eyes he knew was from lack of sleep. He had seen many people over the years looking exactly like this. However, instead of posing more questions himself, he thought it best to answer hers. She deserved to know.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. I mean I know I splintered out of Russia and back to 2043, but I don’t know why. I should have been erased when we bombed that building, but I wasn’t. There must be another virus out there,” Cole said as he dug back into his cheeseburger, now that they were talking about the virus he felt more like it should be. Even Cassie looked more at ease.

“I’m glad you’re ok,” Cassie said with a smile. She still seemed as if she were a little on edge, but she definitely seemed more herself than earlier. “I apologize for earlier. It’s just-“ Cassie cut herself off, shaking her head. 

Cole frowned but let it slide since as she shook her head she picked up her burger and took a bite. He wasn’t going to argue with her if she was going to eat. Instead he moved on to a safer subject.

“So I guess we really will be starting from scratch. We think our best bet would be to keep tracking the 12 Monkeys. If the virus is still out there, we can assume they’re still looking for it.” Cole informed Cassie, finishing off his burger and taking a large sip of his drink.

“I still have everything that was saved on my laptop. Everything else Aaron threw away after the C.I.A let us go. Looks like we’re going to have a busy night ahead of us.” Cassie stated as she gathered up what was left of her food and threw it in the garbage.

“No reason we need to start tonight. You look tired, we both could probably use the rest,” he told her. To be honest his gunshot wound was still giving him some trouble, it wasn’t fully healed yet. As soon as the words were out of his mouth Cole knew he should have anticipated this reaction. Cassie’s face went from determination to panic in three seconds flat.

“Hey, hey, hey. I’ll be right there on the couch when you get up. Just like always,” Cole told Cassie rushing towards her, one hand on her upper arm, the other gesturing to the couch in the front room where he normally slept when he was staying in the past for more than a day.

“No,” Cassie said, causing Cole to pull back a little at her conviction. She really wasn’t having this.

“Look Cassie, you need the sleep. You look like you’ve barely slept in weeks.” Cole told her, attempting to reason with her.

“No, I can’t sleep. I mean I don’t sleep. Not really, not anymore. I have nightmare, of the Witness, and Operation Troy.” She informed him, her voice almost sounding clinical, like when she spoke with another Doctor about something that was far beyond Cole’s ability to comprehend.

Cole was shocked. He knew that Cassie had been having trouble after she had been kidnapped by the 12 Monkeys, but he didn’t think it had gotten so bad that she couldn’t sleep, nor did he ever imagine it lasting this long. 

“Can’t we just, can’t we sit and talk? I’ll make us some tea. We can sit on the couch and we can just, just be us?” Cassie asked, Cole knew she was grasping for straws, but who was he to argue. He couldn’t force her to go to sleep and maybe if he humoured her she would end up drifting off on her own.

“Alright, but you have to promise to at least try and have a nap or something,” Cole offered as a compromise, to which Cassie quickly agreed.

AS Cassie went about making tea Cole got up and stretched, moving out into the living room, getting comfortable on the couch. In no time Cassie was walking out with two cups of tea in her hands. She offered Cole a smile as she set one down in front of him and then one in front of her as she took her seat.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Cole asked turning to look at Cassie as she leaned back into the couch, now nursing her mug between her hands.

“Tell me about the future. You have friends don’t you? Other than Jones?” Cassie asked, clearly intrigued. Cole could only wonder how long she had been waiting to ask these questions.

He settled down and began telling her about Ramse, making sure to mention the fact that he eat blondes for breakfast, which got a laugh out of Cassie. Cole wasn’t sure how long he talked, but he told Cassie all about Ramse, about Max and people he had met in between. Only when he ran out of things to say did Cole even notice that there was a weight on his shoulder. 

Looking down he saw Cassie’s head resting on his shoulder, her arm having somehow curled around his own without his noticing. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was even, at least she had managed to fall asleep. Cole was careful as he moved his free hand and tucked a stray piece of hair out of her face. It was amazing how much smaller she looked when she was asleep, like a china doll, the slightest breeze could knock her over.

Cole didn’t have the heart to wake her so she could move to her bed, nor did he think she would be willing to try and go back to sleep after that. Instead he shifted as gently as he could, making himself comfortable, then wrapped his free arm around his front to take her hand as she slept.

“Cole,” Cassie mumbled as she shifted a little, snuggling deeper into his side while pulling his arm closer.

“Hush, I’ll be here in the morning,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her hair before closing his eyes and settling in for the night. Neither one of them moving again until the morning.


End file.
